Key scripture- “Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them” (Exodus ‪3:13‬)?

What if your friend was to say to you, “Don’t call me Bob, call me Doctor” or “Don’t call me Sarah, call me Counselor,” you’d get a clear message from them, wherein they would be telling you, “I have a title. I’ve earned it. I’m special, and you’re not close or important enough to me to call me by my first name.”

This is one of the reasons I love God so much . . . because infinitely more than any of us on earth, God deserves to demand that we call Him by His title, because He is Lord, the Creator of the Heavens and earth, and yet in one of the most incredible expressions of His personal care and desire for a relationship with us, He invites us to call Him by name.

Pastor, James McDonald says that nearly seven thousand times in the Old Testament the Bible uses the word for Him that is His personally chosen name: Yahweh. Jehovah. When you see it in the Bible, it’s traditionally formatted in small-capitals like this “LORD” as a way of distinguishing it from the more generic “Lord.” But it is actually an amazing word that captures an awesome aspect of His character—just four consonants, translated as YHWH—the special, unique name for God, and in His response to Moses’ question at the burning bush, He communicated the personal nature of His name in a most descriptive way. Listen in . . .

“What shall I say to them?” Moses inquired, thinking ahead to what the Israelite slaves in Egypt would ask when he came bearing news about their deliverance. “God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And he said, ‘Say this to the people of Israel: “I AM has sent me to you. . . . The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.” This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations’” (Exodus ‪3:13–15‬). God is saying, “Call Me by My name”, in other words. “I want to relate to you. I want to have a personal relationship with you. This, Jehovah, is My name”.

Years later, when another great Old Testament hero, David, spoke to God in the familiar line from the first verse of the Twenty-third Psalm, he employed one of those 6,800 Old Testament mentions of God’s personal, covenant name. “The LORD is my shepherd.” My shepherd. My God. My Lord—a God who wants to be known personally and to make Himself known.

And what was true for Moses and the ancient Israelites, what was true for David and the other biblical psalm writers, remains true for us today. God’s transcendence, far above us, does not preclude Him from drawing near to us. He loves us and wants us to know Him even better than we already do. So come close, come closer, a little bit closer, and experience again today the miracle of a personal relationship with Almighty God.

Stop and think for a minute, what prevents you from experiencing personal closeness to God sometimes? I can tell you, it is not Him, because He is always ready to meet with you, love you, and comfort you.

Pray this – Our Precious Heavenly Father, thank You for coming to us in such a personal way, for relating to us individually through the intimacy of Your name. Whenever I doubt Your personal knowledge of me and Your love for me, may the mere sight of Your Name remind me again of how tenderly You’ve reached out for me, how You store my tears in a bottle, how You number the hairs on my head, that my name is written on Your palm, how You protect me, how You provide for me, how You carry me, and how You sing and rejoice over me. I worship You today for Your greatness, but also for Your nearness, and for loving us so much that You gave Your Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins so that we would not be separated from You. It is